Meh. I agree that he's making some nice high-point catches, but his speed has always been a limiting factor, and it still is. While you might have some better players in prep school, you're not necessarily going to have better athletes than what he was facing at Camden (NJ) Camden, and NJ has some pretty good football talent. You can see that most of his plays/catches are occurring on back shoulder throws, jump balls, etc.

I don't know who our #1 receiver will be next year, but I think Hawkins is unlikely to be that guy.

Guys who are listed at 6'7" as recruits are usually 6'6", but an inch here or there doesn't make a ton of difference. Personally, I think Banks plays like a guard, but he could probably be a right tackle, too. He's not a blind-side type of guy, though.

Yes, but he's not like the other players on the team. He WAS like the other players on Michigan's team. But he transferred. Now he's a slightly different type of member of Eastern Michigan's team. That's fine. I don't begrudge him transferring. I wasn't a big fan of him as a player coming out of high school, and it opened up a scholarship. I have nothing against the guy.

But transferring has its consequences. It doesn't have anything to do with what went on beforehand or what will happen in 2017. Right now he's a "special case," and this is the collateral damage.

In my opinion, my being a coach factors in because it's a good lesson for young people. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every choice, there are positive and negative consequences. This is a choice he made. Right now he's paying his dues. And next year (and beyond) he'll presumably reap the benefits of his choice.

If it were an easier choice that had no negative repercussions, then as discussed elsewhere in this thread, players would be bouncing from school to school and team to team willy-nilly.

If that's your definition of getting fucked, then get in line. A lot of us had to "work for free" to get our "education" so we can get jobs later. As I said above, it's in football and law and teaching and being an electrician.

I don't know about being able to transfer for those two games, but there would certainly be some cherry picking going on. Alabama's star RB goes down in the spring with a torn ACL? Let's bring in that stud running back from Utah! Ohio State's dual-threat QB leaves for the supplemental draft? Sorry, TCU, we're stealing Trevone Boykin in July and you suckers didn't sign a QB in February so it sucks to be you!

You literally can't disagree with everything I'm saying today, because some of the things I'm pointing to are facts (about bowl costs, travel costs, etc.). If you disagree with my opinion (and you obviously do), that's fine. But facts are facts.

Where did I mention anything about rewards? If it's not a penalty, then what does the opposite of a penalty mean? It doesn't matter. Rewards, penalties, they're irrelevant to what I'm discussing.

Listen, it would be great if everyone could take a trip to the Bahamas and it didn't cost anybody anything! Sign me up for that. But in the real world, there are costs and consequences and rules and regulations and restrictions, and this falls in that category. Sure, he busted his butt in practice, just like hundreds or thousands of other guys have done without the chance to travel or go to a bowl game. He made his choice to transfer and to play football in the NCAA. Suck it up, help the team go to a bowl game next year, and move on.

I agree. But there's very little reason to take players, there's a reason for restrictions for transfers, and it makes fiscal sense. The only downside is that select players don't get to take a plane ride to a tropical location and spend a week at the beach.

There's a step you're missing, and that's the governing body of those colleges. There are certain rules that some groups on campuses have to abide by. Fraternities and sororities have governing bodies that they can hold individual chapters to. He's not playing football solely for Eastern Michigan University against other EMU students. He's playing football for EMU's team that participates in a larger organization against other member schools.

If you want to go join the butterfly collecting club at EMU, there are probably fewer restrictions. Probably.

That's a fair point, but as a taxpayer and/or tuition-paying student, I don't necessarily think we should be paying for a bunch of extra players to go to the Bahamas, California, Florida, etc. If you leave that up to the school, then that gets passed on to someone else until it trickles down to 72-year-old Eleanor Smith who pays state taxes in Ludington for someone like Samuelson to go to the beach.